Webrian's Dick Howser Challenge

[so49as]

I made a why the heck not trade involving 2B Luis Corcino, who hit .341 in Rookie league and doesn't have much talent to make it past there.

I sent him to the Cardinals for Todd Worrell. Unlike real life, Worrell didn't not get a late promotion to the Cardinals and didn't finish the year as their closer. He pitched well in AAA Louisville, 2-3, 23 saves, 2.57 ERA, 41 K's in 49 innings.

My scout rates his movement and control talent suspect, but the cost was minimal.

[so49as]

I made 2 selections in the Rule V draft and think both could possibly stick.

SP Jim Deshaies - Deshaies made 2 starts in '84 for the Yankees, and ended with an 11.57 ERA and a loss. He spent '84 with Houston's AAA affiliate Tucson, but even with a record of 18-7, he wasn't placed on the 40-man roster.

I'll deploy him as an 6th arm out of the 'pen, eschewing the traditional 5-man makeup. He'll probably slot in 7th or 8th on the starting pitching depth chart.


IF Keith Thrower - Thrower spent '85 at AAA Tacoma in the Athletics' organization. He plays good defense at all 3 infield positions. He hit .294 with 3 HR's and 57 RBI's as Tacoma's starting shortstop. He brings lightning speed to the bench as well. In 58 games for the 1983 Medford team, he stole 63 bases, and then in '84 for Modesto, stole 89 in 119 games.

I don't know how much action he'll see filling in for the current infield, but he'll definitely get in games running for Orta and McRae late.

[so49as]

George Brett finished 5th on the MVP Ballot.

He finished the season hitting .324 with 24 HR's and 90 RBI's. All led the team.

Wade Boggs finished the year hitting .399 and was hitting over .400 as late as the Tuesday before the season ended. 228 hits and 64 doubles led the American League.

[so49as]

Bret Saberhagen finished 4th in the Cy Young Award voting. He led the league in WHIP, BB/9, and WAR.

His record finished at 17-12, he pitched 258.2 innings in his sophomore season. He struck out 167 batters, and only walked 25. He's definitely stepped up as the Ace of the starting rotation.

[so49as]

This is where I've deviated farthest from reality. It's unlikely these two players would even have been available on the market in '86. The team's biggest free agent signing in '86 was perhaps Rudy Law? And the first big name signing was Mark Davis in '90?

(Coincidentally, the Giants offered Davis to me in a trade. I deleted without reading who they wanted in return.)

Shortstop was a big giant gaping black hole for me in '85. Biancalana, Royster, and Concepcion combined for over 40 errors and only Royster hit close to respectably.

The Tigers didn't resign Alan Trammell so I jumped at the chance to have his glove in the field and bat (likely) in the #2 hole.

Last year he hit .273 with 12 HR's and 61 RBI's, and a 3.3 WAR. He made 24 errors for a .967 FA, and turned 99 double plays. In 154 starts, his ZR was +7.

[so49as]

Right field was a carousel and I wanted someone to nail it down and take possession.

Division rivals the Chicago White Sox failed to resign Harold Baines. After a few back and forths, other suitors dropped out and left the 26 year old to sign with me for over $1.4 million a year.

Baines hit 31 HR's last year, a career high. His BA was .295, OBP .326, SLG .495 and OPS .820. War - 3.3

In right field, he made 4 errors for a .990 FA, and a ZR of +1.4. He made 10 outfield assists.

[so49as]

So going into 1986, I have 3 players signed for 1992 - Brett, Baines, and Trammell. Brett has a player's option for '93, and the others have player options for '94.

I worry a touch because it's a long haul and they might decline by then, but I'll knock on wood.

Trammell will be making the least of the trio this year with 1.2m. The entire rotation will be making about 1.15m.

Additionally this offseason, I extended Sundberg and Cooper both for the '86 and '87 seasons. Cooper has a vesting option for '88.

I had 5 players reach double digit home runs in '85. Minimum this year should be 6.

[webrian]

You are making the kinds of moves real Royals fans like myself wish the owner had made after 1985 — of course, Trammell and Baines probably were never going to be available, but even in real life the brass could have gone bolder than Rudy Law.

Yeah, good thing you shut the door on a proposed Mark Davis deal. You dodged a bullet there. He was supposed to make the 1990 Royals into a real contender, but both he and the Royals went hard in the opposite direction.

I like the idea of Worrell as a set-up guy or even pushing Quiz for the closer's role.

Already looking forward to 1986. I bet the fan interest in the game is way up too.

[so49as]

The total WAR gained through my offseason moves was 13.2. 2nd best in the leagues. Baines and Trammell each had 3.3 WAR last year. And I gained 4.7 WAR through removing negative WAR players. Darryl Motley had the largest WAR of players gone at 0.9.

The Yankees added 28.3! 4 starting pitchers and 3 relievers including Rick Reuschel (9.9 WAR) who finished 3rd in the NL Cy Young Award voting. 2 starting outfielders and a starting thirdbaseman.

Toronto lost the lost WAR among personnel changes, -14.9. They lost SPs Dave Stieb, Steve Trout and Bruce Kison. 3B Rance Mulliniks and CF Lloyd Mosbey. The only significant player added was 2B Tom Herr.

[so49as]

The new season is about to start. My owner wants me to finish around .500. Nice easy expectations!

Preseason predictions have us in 1st place! 94-68.

Brett - .323, 30 HR, 102 RBI
Saberhagen - 16-10; 2.76 ERA; 210 K's
Jackson - 15-11; 3.33
Leibrandt - 17-9; 3.29

The Yankees are predicted to win 90. Must not be able to fit all their new players on the field at the same time.

[so49as]

Rookie Draft (I left the draft in the offseason instead of moving it to June.)

Round 1 - Greg Swindell - SP - 879 Stuff/Movement/Control - I'm starting him in Fort Myers of the Florida State League.
Round 2 - Mike Bordick - IF - 7 Contact talent - Can play all three infield positions but will focus on SS for the Eugene Emeralds.
Round 3 - Ricky Bones - SP - 558 SMC talents - Just turned 17 and will start in the Gulf Coast League

Not much talent in rounds 4 through 43!


Swindell debuts at #10 of the Top 100 Prospect list.
#13 - Melido Perez (SP - Omaha) - A little surprised to see him this high. 865 SMC talents. 16-3 last year across Fort Myers and Memphis.
#17 - David Cone (SP - Omaha) - Cone has shown control problems in the majors (16w in 11 ip) and will get regular work in the AAA rotation.
#26 - Scott Bankhead (SP - Kansas City) - #6 starter on the ML roster, but will start as the #5 man due to an injury.
#53 - Kevin Seitzer (1B - Omaha) - His defense is too poor for him to play anywhere else but DH. Slashed .308/.419/.396/.815 in AA Memphis in '85, 4 HRs and 49 RBIs.
#88 - Mike Bordick (SS - Eugene)

[so49as]

1986 Roster
Starting Rotation
1. Bret Saberhagen (17-12, 2.99)
2. Charlie Leibrandt (17-11, 2.99)
3. Buddy Black (8-13, 4.05)
4. Danny Jackson (9-6, 3.48, 1 SV)
5. Scott Bankhead (2-2, 1.93, 1 SV)

Bullpen
RH - Steve Farr (3-4, 3.59, 3 SV)
LH - Tony Ferreira (4-8, 3.09, 1 SV in AAA)
LH - Frank DiPino (3-2, 1.93)

Setup - Al Holland (4-8, 3.04, 3 SV)

Closer - Dan Quisenberry (2-7, 2.85, 29 SV)

Lineup:
1. Willie Wilson (.283, 5, 52, 51 SB)
2. Alan Trammell (.273, 12, 61, 27)
3. George Brett (.324, 24, 90, 11)
4. Harold Baines (.295, 31, 96)
5. Cecil Cooper (.310, 15, 78)
6. Jorge Orta (.307, 11, 57) and Hal McRae (.314, 5, 31)
7. Jim Sundberg (.231, 6, 38)
8. Mike Cole (.294, 0, 19, 13 - AA) and Manny Trillo (.281, 1, 47)
9. Dave Collins (.270, 5, 55, 29)

Backups
C Alan Ashby (.262, 5, 17)
IF Keith Thrower (.294, 3, 57, 25 - AAA)
OF Al Cowens (.259, 7, 43)
OF Pat Sheridan (.282, 4, 36)

The DH position is the same platoon as last year. Cole and Trillo will platoon at 2B until (see below...). Cole is a weak fielder, but hit well in spring training. I picked up Trillo mid-spring to cover for (see below...). He'll slot into a backup role eventually.

Disabled list:
2B Frank White - White strained his oblique early in spring and will return mid-April.
P Jim Deshaies - Deshaies, a Rule V selection, strained a tricep late in spring and will return to the bullpen late April
SP Mark Gubicza - Gubi strained his hamstring on his last spring start. He'll be out at least 5 weeks, probably mid-May. Bankhead will fill his spot until then.

[webrian]

This is a much stronger team than the one you finished 1985 with and it blows away the team you started 1985 with.

I can imagine this team being on the cover of every preseason baseball mag and media guide. The bullpen still looks a little suspect, but it'll look a lot better when Gubi and DeShaies return from injury.

Can't wait to see how this team opens 1986.

[so49as]

Cole is interesting. I think the game generated his stats including whatever they might have from his Mexican League days from '86 to '93.

The AI wants to have him bat lead off.

Interestingly, he shouldn't be on my team. He started '85 in the Braves organization, but with OOTP's sometimes weird assignment of minor league players who changed organizations, he started in the Royals organization.

Similar to how John Morris always starts with the Cardinals.

[so49as]

Game 1 – April 8
1 – Royals
2 – New York

WP – Rick Reuschel (1-0)
LP – Bret Saberhagen (0-1)
SV – Dave Righetti (1)

Rickey Henderson broke a 1-1 tie with a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th. Saberhagen pitched well enough, but the offense collected 7 hits, but left 5 on base.




Game 2 – April 9
0 – Royals
1 – New York

WP – Joaquin Andujar (1-0)
LP – Charlie Leibrandt (0-1)

Andujar won 19 games last year and 2 more in the playoffs. Cooper and Cole doubled, but the again left 7 on base. Mike Pagliarulo hit a solo home run for the only run of the game.

Leibrandt struck out 4 in 8 innings and gave up 5 hits.




Game 3 – April 10
4 – Royals
5 – New York

WP – Ron Guidry (1-0)
LP – Bud Black (0-1)
SV – Dave Righetti (2)

The Yankees jumped out to a 3-run lead and then tacked on more than we could muster. Hal McRae hit a 2-run homer in the 4th and Jim Sundberg added a solo shot.


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This Yankee team might win 120.

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0-3 – Tied for 5th; 3 games behind Minnesota and Seattle

[so49as]

Game 4 – April 11
0 – Toronto
7 – Royals

WP – Danny Jackson (1-0)
LP – Mark Eichhorn (0-1)

“That was a fun one,” said Danny Jackson. He struck out 7 en route to a 4-hit shutout. A little tight in the 4th as the Jays got runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, but Jackson struck out the side.

We jumped out early as Harold Baines hit his first KC home run, a 3-run shot. Cecil Cooper added a 2-run triple.

The Jays were tough last year, and I'm happy to get the first win of the season off of them.



Game 5 – April 12
4 – Toronto
2 – Royals

WP – Bob Sudo (1-0)
LP – Scott Bankhead (0-1)
SV – Tom Henke (2)

Ernie Whitt started the scoring off with his first home run of the year, and the Jays continued to peck away. We collected 9 hits, but left 7 on base.

Bankhead pitched OK for his first start of the year, 8 K's in 7.2 innings, but the 4 runs were too much.





Game 6 – April 13
2 – Toronto
1 – Royals

WP – Doyle Alexander (1-1)
LP – Bret Saberhagen (0-2)
SV – Tom Henke (3)

Alexander and Saberhagen both threw great games, but the Jays offense just eeked out a bit more. Backup 3B Dave Stegman hit a solo home run in the 6th for the go ahead run.

Baines went 2-4 and singled in Alan Trammell for our only run.


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Should still be winning every game, but I'm not worried after starting the season 1-5.

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1-5 – Tied for 6th; 4 games behind Minnesota, Texas, and Chicago

[so49as]

Game 7 – April 14
8 – Royals
1 – Boston

WP – Charlie Leibrandt (1-1)
LP – Oil Can Boyd (0-2)

Leibrandt scattered 7 hits and Boston could only manage a Dwight Evans solo home run. Quisenberry came in with 1 runner on 1st in the 8th and held the Sox for the remainder.

Cooper was the only Royal not to register a hit, but he walked twice. Brett hit a 2-run homer in the 3rd and had 3 RBI's total. Wilson, Sundberg, and Baines all had triples with Wilson driving in 2 on his.

A good all around offense showing for the club.



Game 8 – April 16
7 – Royals
1 – Boston

WP – Bud Black (1-1)
LP – Bob Ojeda (0-1)

Black pitched another fine game at Fenway, giving up 5 hits and 1 run in 8 innings. He tallied 5 strikeouts against no walks.

The offense was more clustered, but in a good way. 5 Royals had multi-hit games – Trammell, Brett, Baines, McRae, and Sundberg. We jumped out to a 4 run lead in the first. Sundberg, McRae, and Cooper each had 2 RBI's.




Game 9 – April 17
2 – Royals
0 – Boston

WP – Danny Jackson (2-0)
LP – Dave Stieb (0-2)

I was at first a little confused seeing Dave Stieb starting for the Sox, thinking I might have accidentally started the next series, but had forgotten he signed with the Sox for over $10m across 7 seasons.

Stiebe and Jackson dueled until the 8th when George Brett tripled with 1 out and scored on a Cecil Cooper sacrifice fly. We added an insurance run in the 9th when Cole and Collins back to back doubled.

Jackson gave up 9 hits, but left 7 Sox stranded. He struck out only 1 and threw 89 pitches, 69 strikes.




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The Sox came in 0-6, and leave 0-9, which doesn't leave me unhappy.

Frank White returns from the injured list and a 5 game rehab/restart in Memphis. Mike Cole started 7 games in his absence, hitting .333.

Rule V draftee Jim Deshaies came off the disabled list and will serve a rehab in Memphis. No rush in his return.

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4-5 – 5th; 3 games behind Seattle

[so49as]

Game 10 – April 18
1 – Royals
2 – Toronto

WP – Dennis Lamp (1-0)
LP – Bret Saberhagen (0-3)

Saberhagen has an ERA under 2 and is turning into a true ace, but I probably should have subbed him in the 9th with a 1-0 lead. A walk, error and 3 singles gave the Jays the win.

Offensively, we got the hits, but not the runs, leaving 8 on base.



Game 11 – April 19
2– Royals
5 – Toronto

WP – Jimmy Key (3-0)
LP – Charlie Leibrandt (1-2)

Leibrandt came into the game with an ERA of 1.15, but lost the small-sample-sized and his ERA ballooned to 2.78. The Jays scored 5 runs in the first 4 innings on 10 hits, 8 singles.

Cecil Cooper has been running a touch cold, but went 2-4 with a solo home run.



Game 12 – April 20
4 – Royals
7 – Toronto

WP – Bob Sudo (2-0)
LP – Scott Bankhead (0-2)
SV – Tom Henke (5)

We loaded the bases in the top of the 9th, but Brett struck out and Baines popped out to the second baseman. All of our runs came from home runs, a 3-run shot by Wilson in the 2nd, and a solo shot by Baines in the 8th.

But the Jays picked away again, scoring 5 in the first 3 innings, and then tacking 2 more on in the 5th.


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Players are running about half and half hot and cold. Cooper, Collins, Wilson, and Orta are all hitting below .208. Brett, Trammell, Baines and McRae are all above .319. Sundberg is tending downward at .237.

Through 12 games, the relief staff is yet to allow a run, and have given up only 3 hits in 11 innings. On the downside, they've allowed 6 walks against 7 strikeouts.

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4-8 – 6th; 5 games behind Seattle

[so49as]

George Brett collected his 2000th hit.

[so49as]

Funny story about the bat Brett used for his real life 2000th hit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUNN8DpChcs